Only Yesterday
by RosieShiba
Summary: Time flies, Paul knew that but since he's not one to linger on what has been, he really can't stand the thoughts of things that feel they happened only yesterday... IS/PS/CS/ORS. Rated T for mild pervertedness on Paul's part.


Only Yesterday

"And the reason why you're forcing me to do this again is?" Paul asked his wife for the third or forth time in the space of an hour. He raised a thick purple eyebrow at her, staring down at her head as she happily tied his bow tie for him. As she hummed to herself, obviously ignoring his grouching, he slid his eyes onto her slightly exposed cleavage, the guaranteed way to make her take notice of him. Even after knowing her for far too long, neither would admit to how long it was, she would still turn beetroot coloured and scream 'pervert' at him the second his eyes glanced at her breasts. It worked of course. Not a second later did Paul's bow tie suddenly become very tight around his neck and she snapped at him.

"You know one day you will kill me," he said to her as he fought his way out of the bow tie. It was an effort too but he managed to do it before he became asphyxiated. His wife turned her angry eyes onto his face as he carelessly tossed the bow tie across the room.

"I can only try," she replied coldly, causing Paul to chuckle. "I have pretty good life insurance on you."

"Good," Paul told her. He pecked her on the lips and brushed past her so he could get a tie from out of his wardrobe. While he decided on a tie, his wife went to admire herself in the mirror. She checked her dress then brushed a hand through her midnight blue hair. Her attention slipped back to her husband as he turned to face her holding two ties in his hands. "Silver or black?"

"Silver," she replied. She eyed her darkly dressed partner with a small smile on her face. Damn, he still looked good. The black tailored trousers really brought out his butt and the black shirt clung to his abs. He eyed her with a mischievous glint in his eyes as he tied his tie. When he was done, he reached down to pick up his black jacket, swinging it over his shoulders coolly. His wife giggled as he brushed down the sleeves.

"Are you giggling at me?" he asked her.

"Me giggle?" she asked, horrified at the suggestion. A serious expression flashed across her features for a whole of two seconds, then she broke down into giggles again. "Paul, you should have been a supermodel rather than a champion."

"I tried that once," Paul told her. "All it got me was a whole load of cash, a whole load of fan-girls and one very troublesome wife."

"Oh but you love it," she teased, sticking out her tongue at him. Paul gave another chuckle while reaching into the wardrobe and plucking a silky feeling shawl from a hanger. He tossed it at his wife who caught it and swung it round her shoulders in a similar fashion Paul had earlier. She gave him a haughty look before she glided towards him, not stumbling once in her high heels. She did a little twirl for him, her short dress fluttering around giving him a brief peek of her underwear. When his eyes met hers again she winked.

"You don't want to be late, Mr Champion," she told him, grabbing his hand tightly in her own and pulling his sharply towards the bedroom door. He managed a loud huff before his arm was almost wrenched out of its socket. As she dragged him through their apartment, his wife inquired into his friends while making her usual gossipy type of conversation. He rolled his eyes at her but the small, sincere smile never left his face once.

"_Yo, Shinji," greeted the jock like tone of Gary Oak. Yes, he was a play boy trainer but he wasn't so bad. At least, Paul didn't think so since while Gary Oak was around none of the girls bothered with him. Gary ran a hand through his spiky hair and flashed Paul a white smile. "You got that work?"_

"_Yeah, yeah," Paul replied. "I got your work right here."_

_And Paul threw a book at him. Scowling at the fact the corner of the book had almost come a foot close to his face, Gary pouted like a spoilt child. _

"_Dude, not cool," he moaned, bending down to pick up the fallen book. With a sigh, Gary straightened up. "I guess that's another detention for me, huh?"_

"_Well, you may be pretty but you aren't dumb," Paul replied sarcastically as he closed his locker. He cast Gary a rather dark look then walked past him. However, he paused merely foot steps away as two more of his 'friends' appeared at the end of the corridor, chatting animatedly to each other. Paul let out a loud groan as he rubbed his face. _

"_Guess who has a date this Saturday," Drew, a green haired boy, said as he waved a piece of paper above his head._

"_Your mother?" Paul asked. Drew glared at Paul while the other two boys, Gary and a fourth, Ash, hooted with laughter._

"_Burn!" Ash yelled loudly, throwing his fists into the air. _

"_For your information, no," Drew replied icily. "I have."_

"_Oh… The cactus from Lab Five finally asked you out did she?" Paul said, smirking as Drew's cheeks tinted pink. "Remember, Drew, you can look but you can't touch."_

"_Oh up yours," Drew snapped finally. Before Drew could rub his date in Paul's face, and probably face being maimed in the process by the lavender haired boy, Gary put his arms round Drew's shoulders in a chummy sort of way._

"_Paul knows how to rile you up, doesn't he?" Gary laughed._

"_He's a jerk," Drew replied with a glare in Paul direction. If Paul was hurt, a laughable notion in itself, he was a brilliant actor to cover it up. _

"_It's Paul," Ash said with a goofy grin he had come to trademark. "He wouldn't be our Paul if he wasn't the sour puss we all know and want to punch."_

"_Amen to that, Ash," Gary agreed with an almost serious expression on his face. "Let's face it, Drew. When we're older and a little wiser, we'll be the ones with the beautiful wives and the happy children. Paul there will be rich with a large house and a nice collection of cars."_

"_So?" Drew asked, frowning._

"_So we'll be friends with him so we can escape the wives," Gary joked. _

Paul rested his chin on his wife's head as they sat in the taxi. She had her head leant on his shoulders, smiling as she watched the lights of oncoming cars through the front window.

"Are you looking forward to this?" she asked him.

"A little," he admitted. "I am curious to see what my friends are doing."

"And how they're doing?" she prompted. Paul nodded. He played with the hem of her dress mindlessly as she stroked his leg. They had become so accustomed to this sort of thing that they rarely noticed they were doing it. It was one of the reasons why she wore short dresses rather than long ones. Despite her prudence, she knew that Paul tended to fiddle with the hems of clothing when he was bored or thinking and shorter clothes led to less embarrassing situations. There had been one time when the pair had attended a fancy gala that was black tie and full length dress. Paul had accidentally pulled up her dress a little too high and, in the process, made her flash the Champion of Kanto. She didn't mind it that much: he always sent lovely Christmas cards.

"What were you like at school?" she asked him finally.

"I was the jerk," Paul replied.

"Of the group?"

"Of the school."

"I can so see that," she giggled. Paul glanced down at her head before planting a kiss in her hair. "So the girls hated you?"

"Yup."

"And the guys did."

"Yes."

"And the teachers?"

"They loved me. I actually did the homework."

"Nerd," she teased.

"In the year book I was voted the most likely to rule the world in an authoritarian regime never seen before," Paul told her. She giggled at this, not bothering to deny that this could have been a good career choice for him. "When you first met me, what did you think?"

"You were a pompous jerk who was so far up his own arse he could see daylight," she replied as if it was nothing. She frowned then glanced up at him. "I've told you that before."

"I know," Paul said with a smirk on his face. "I just like you saying it, that's all."

"Remind you of your former glory back before you became the whipped little teddy bear you are now?" she asked.

"Pretty much," he replied with a shrug.

"Awww," she teased him. A hand snaked up to his cheek where it then tugged at the flesh in a patronising way. Paul didn't mind though. He was used to her teasing. It was actually one of the reasons he loved her so much simply because when they first met she could easily take his insults as easily as throwing them back at him.

_Paul glared at the pale faced girl as she trembled under his gaze. She had attempted to ask him to the prom but she had only managed a few syllables until Paul's glare had become just too much for her and she broke down into shakes. Finally tears filled her eyes and she rushed off somewhere down the corridor, amidst a mental break down. Paul let out a sigh when she had disappeared._

"_Dude, that was harsh." Paul turned to see the scowling face of Ash a few feet away from him. Paul merely shrugged and closed his locker as if nothing had happened. He wasn't at all surprised when he heard the clunk of Ash's locker being snapped shut and the hurried heavy feet of the black head's running as he struggled to catch up with Paul. _

"_You know, you should be nicer," Ash told Paul the moment he was in ear shot. Paul rolled his eyes at the oncoming lecture. Ash didn't relent at all with this sort of thing. "If you're nicer to people then you won't be alone all your life."_

"_Has it ever occurred to you that I want to be left alone?" Paul replied shortly, giving Ash a warning glance. Ash merely let out a sigh. _

"_You say that now but one day a girl will catch your eye," Ash said. "I know we joke about you being asexual and all, but no one can live alone forever."_

"_Whatever," Paul said with an eye roll. _

"_Are you asexual?" Ash asked suddenly._

"_No," Paul replied. He stopped walking and turned to face Ash. Despite their many differences, Ash was Paul's closest friend and the pair was known to have moments like these where Paul would be open about some philosophy he had, never feelings. Feelings and Paul did not go at all. Ash waited for the oncoming philosophy patiently with a naïve expression on his face. "You know how you say you're looking for a girl who would keep you in check and physically hurt you if you needed it?"_

"_Yeah," Ash said. _

"_Who can cook and look after both of you," Paul went on._

"_Yup."_

"_Well I would hate a girl like that," Paul said causing Ash to frown. "That's probably the best thing for you but for me… I need someone who can deal with me. I need someone who can throw back anything I give her."_

"_You want a banter friend?" Ash asked. Paul nodded._

"_I like backbone in my friends," Paul replied walking off into the empty corridor. _

Paul grimaced slightly as he walked into the old gym of his high school. To say everything had been decorated to the geekiest, cheesiest level was perhaps the biggest understatement of Paul's life. He stared round the room, hands in his pockets before he made his way deeper into the hall. Banners saying 'Class of '99' hung on each wall with streamers of red and blue waving along the ceiling. On the far wall was the classic punch bowl and finger food table. Along one of the other walls, small round tables were darted around with people already sat at them. Paul stared around for a few seconds longer until he heard someone talk about him.

"Oh my Arceus," he heard a woman squeak, "That's Paul, the Champion."

Great now his cover was blown. As to disappear, Paul hurried from his spot before the woman's friends could turn to look at him. The last thing he wanted was a mob scene here, especially from his stupid former classmates.

"Hey there." Slowly Paul turned to glance at a red head who was sat alone on a nearby table. She waved at him with a small smile on her face as if he knew her.

He did know her.

"Misty," he greeted with a hurried step towards the nearest chair. He plonked himself down and offered her a grateful eyebrow raise.

"How's it going old Champ? It's been a while since you and I crossed paths," she said casually.

"I'm grateful we've crossed paths now," Paul admitted. He looked round nervously for a few seconds wondering where on earth his wife had gotten to. His gaze suddenly turned to Misty as she began laughing.

"Look at you," she said. "You look so nervous."

"I am, that's why," Paul said. Suddenly there was a dim realisation that hit him full on. He turned to face Misty, a scowl etched into his features. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Apart from the obvious comedic relief?" Misty joked. Her face suddenly became deadly serious as she leant in closer to him. "I hate to tell you this Paul, but you are the victim of the Variety Hour Celeb Prankster."

"Screw you," Paul hissed back at her just as she started to giggle uncontrollably to herself.

"I'm married," Misty replied, this time more seriously than before. She flashed him a diamond solitaire ring and a wedding band to enforce what she had just said. Paul nodded a few times then frowned.

"Which lame brain did you marry from this school then?" he asked.

"Hey Mist, you want any of these cocktail sausages?"

Paul glared at Misty as if she was the biggest idiot on the planet but only for a split second until he smirked at her.

"Should have known," he muttered under his breath. He turned in his chair so he could look up into the face of his best friend: Ash Ketchum. Ash, it seemed, was frozen to the spot with a cocktail sausage half way to his mouth.

"Do I need to introduce you two?" Misty asked. Her voice seemed to kick Ash into high gear and he jumped a mile.

"Dude," Ash said, "how have you been?"

"Not bad," Paul replied offering his friend a smirk. "And you?"

"Good thanks," Ash said. He rubbed his messy black hair nervously for a few seconds before he let out a nervous laugh. "Wow, I haven't seen you since you left to take on the Championship."

"Yeah," Paul said with a nod. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"

"_Mr Champion, how do you feel?"_

_Click. Flash._

"_You're number one in Sinnoh, comment?"_

_A microphone was shoved under his chin while there were another three clicks and flashes of bright white light. _

"_What has been your best moment of your championship so far?"_

_Paul wanted to punch the nearest flashing SLR camera as he was blinded for the hundredth time already. He scowled at the nearest reporter causing them to jump backwards in fright before he continued down the steps onto the hot avenue of his home town. He dug his hands into the pockets of his grey jeans and walked along the asphalt, trying desperately to ignore the following hoard of journalists behind him. He was their new favourite celebrity. Having being the youngest Champion in a century he was bound to cause some sort of noise when it came to claiming the title._

_Despite his new found stardom, Paul was adamant that his life would remain the same as it ever had done. He tended to walk most places, like he had done when he was a trainer. It was easier to get away from the journalists when it was raining so Paul tended to go out the most when it was throwing it down. Many people thought it was a reflection of his dark and sullen mood but really it was practical. Today, however, it was bright and sunny. Paul was walking to his next job, a first for him really since this had nothing to do with training or battles. _

_His agent had gotten him a 'good job' and by good job he meant something Paul would detest with every fibre of his being. Paul knew all of this even before he stepped through the automatic doors of Paris' PR company in Hearthome City half an hour after leaving his comfy apartment. Paris was a well known fashion designer who had opened up her own PR company which dealt with advertising and marketing amongst other things._

_Paul was here for that very reason: he was going to be a spokes model for some trainer thing. He really didn't know much about the job if he was honest. His agent tended to tell him very little about jobs he was likely to refuse as a ruse to get him there in the first place. Why upset him right away?_

"_Hello Paul," greeted Paris herself the moment Paul entered the lobby. The cheery woman beamed at him in a rather obnoxious way until she turned to a girl who was stood next to her. Paul looked at the girl too. She was a petite blue haired girl with bright blue eyes. "This is Dawn Berlitz. She's going to be working with you on this photo shoot."_

"_Joy," Paul commented. The girl's eyes narrowed slightly at his reply. _

"_Dawn, this is Paul. He's new to all of this so you'll help him along, won't you?" Paris asked, ignoring Paul's sarcastic retort._

"_Joy," Dawn said, her eyes flashing in Paul's direction. Paris seemed a little put out about Dawn's reply but she became less worried when she saw Paul smirking._

"_Well, perhaps this won't be too bad," he told Paris. He looked at Dawn who scoffed at him. _

"_That's a rather cheesy pick up line," she said._

"_Oh don't flatter yourself that I'm chatting you up," Paul told her. Dawn frowned again. "It's nice to know that I won't be working with a complete host of moronic fools for the foreseeable future."_

"_Oh good," Dawn said, sounding relieved. "I'm glad you're not chatting me up. If you were I'd have to think about the nicest way to letting you down without you blowing the contract."_

"_Is that all you care about? That contract?" Paul asked._

"_Listen, you," Dawn said, pointing at Paul in a rather haughty fashion. "I care about toilet roll more than I do about you. Just attempt to be professional while on shoot and we'll get along just fine."_

"_Good," Paul said with a nod. "That's exactly what I was hoping for."_

_Dawn folded her arms across her chest for a few seconds as she looked Paul up and down. Slowly she smiled at him._

"_You are right," she said finally. "It is nice knowing I'll be working with one less moron than usual."_

Paul glared at Misty as she told a story about Ash that made their entire table laugh loudly. Paul merely rolled his eyes thinking he had better stories to tell but he wasn't going to. If Paul told some of his stories then no doubt Ash and Misty would be heading for a divorce sometime soon.

The three of them had been joined shortly afterwards by Drew and his wife, May, then five minutes later Gary had arrived with his wife, Leaf. As Paul understood it from their stories, Gary had met Leaf while researching in Kanto. He was working for Professor Oak while she was an officer for INTERPOL and an ex-thief. Apparently they had met when Gary had had something rather expensive stolen from his grandfather's lab.

May was Drew's second wife. They had met on the contest circuit a few years ago and started dating after Drew had a rather sticky divorce from his first wife Brianna. The couple, while big on bickering, seemed to get along pretty well and were rather happy with each other.

Lastly, Ash told the others how he had met Misty at her gym several years ago and how he kept returning to Cerulean to see her while making up excuses. Eventually the two had started dating and married five years ago.

"So, Paul," Leaf said casually. "What do you do?"

"I swear I've seen you somewhere before," May added. Drew face-palmed here causing the entire table to dissolve into chuckles once again.

"Well," Paul said, trying to find the most modest way to say what he did to the others. Fortunately before he could say anything, May and Leaf let out a gasp.

"Oh my Arceus," May said. "Look, it's Dawn Berlitz."

"Who?" Ash asked.

"Dawn Berlitz," Leaf repeated.

"Oh yes," Gary said. "I know her. She's a model."

"She's… very… erm…" Drew struggled to find the right words as his wife turned to look at him.

"Gorgeous?" May suggested. "The most perfect woman in all of existence?"

"After you of course," Drew said. This earned him an endearing smile from May and a thumbs-up from both Ash and Gary as they congratulated him on getting himself out of trouble.

"Wow, I wonder what she's doing here," Misty said as she watched the blue haired woman walk past a crowd of fans. Dawn skipped a little to avoid a guy grabbing her hand. She flashed him a smile and hurried over to Paul's table where she stopped and looked around.

"I see you saved me a seat," she said. She put her hands on her hips and turned to glare at Paul.

"I thought you'd gotten lost," Paul replied with a shrug. "I was just getting my hopes up."

"Well, now that you mention that," Dawn said. She looked over her shoulders and winked at the nearest man. "There's a lot of nice looking guys here tonight."

"Yeah, yeah," Paul replied. He pointed at his friends suddenly. All of them wore faces of shock and surprise, either at the famous Dawn Berlitz talking to Paul or at his meanness to her. "The black head is Ash; spiky hair is Gary and the grasshead is Drew."

"Nice to meet you all," Dawn said.

"Then Misty is Ash's wife, May is Drew's and Leaf is Gary's," Paul went on.

"It's an honour to meet you," May said instantly. She got out of her chair and shuffled so she was stood next to it. "If you want a seat, take mine."

"I'm fine, thanks," Dawn said. She tapped Paul's knee, which he moved a second later so that she could sit down on his lap. "Much better."

"You're welcome," Paul remarked. There was second or two of awkward silence as everyone stared at the couple as if there were expecting a fight to break out.

"So… how did you two meet?" Drew asked finally.

"Work," Paul replied.

"This is what you get when you work with amateurs," Dawn said. "They stick to you and never let you go."

"We've been married two years," Paul told the others before Dawn could say anything else. "We… dated?"

"We never dated," Dawn corrected him, "because you never realised we were a couple until we woke up married."

"Still blaming me for that, I see," Paul commented.

"I never knew you were married," Leaf said while May nodded violently beside Drew.

"Well, it wasn't planned," Dawn giggled. "It just sort of happened."

"In other words, we got drunk and ended up going to a chapel where we got married," Paul replied.

"That's interesting," Drew commented.

"That sounds just like Paul," Gary chuckled. The three guys nodded a few times before snickering at the whole thing. None of them expected Paul to get married ever but if he ever did then they'd be some story behind it and the story he had just told didn't disappoint in any shape or form.

"And you're still together?" May asked.

"How?" Misty asked, frowning slightly.

"Well…" Dawn thought about it for a few minutes until she giggled. "You know how there are those couples that get along better when they don't have a huge commitment to each other? Well, once we were married we just sort of clicked and got along better than ever."

"Strange," Ash said.

"And we never bothered with a divorce," Dawn went on. "We got on so well that we managed to go out together without killing each other, then buy an apartment and just… well be a normal couple."

_Why did mornings have to be so goddamn bright Paul thought as one unfortunate beam shone across his face. He slowly opened one eye and cringed. Then he opened the other, cringing once again as the realisation that waking up was a very bad idea hit him. His head was pounding and swimming at the same time. The funny thing was he couldn't actually remember drinking that much last night. Then again, he couldn't remember much from last night. _

_Rubbing his eyes with his right hand he felt something rather metallic press against his skin. His eyes opened slowly to investigate since he didn't have the energy to spring into action. On his third finger sat a golden ring. It was plain and shiny rather like a… Oh god no._

_Paul sat up glaring at his hand, willing the ring to disappear. The duvet fell off his chest as he moved revealing that he wasn't wearing any clothes._

"_Damn it," he cursed to himself as he quickly checked to see if he had any boxers on. Upon finding out that clothes were seemingly over rated Paul kicked out in annoyance, kicking something soft under the covers._

"_Ow," came a slow half asleep reply. Paul almost jumped a mile when the lump in the duvet shuffled a little. Of course there was something next to him, he just hoped he'd gotten drunk accidentally married and slept with a woman not anything else. If it was a guy he would die right there and then since he was sure he wasn't into that sort of thing (his older brother maybe)._

_The lump began to move again._

"_Hmmm?" it hummed before it let out a shriek. There were a few sharp movements as obviously they saw they were naked and were wearing a ring exactly the same to Paul's then they stopped moving. Sheepishly a head appeared out of the covers revealing dark green hair then two large blue eyes. The pair stared at each other for a second before the person pulled the duvet down under their chin, their hands grasping the cotton tightly._

"_Paul, is that you?" she asked. Paul blinked a few times as he recognised the voice and the pale features of Dawn. _

"_Yeah," he replied._

"_Why do you have scarlet hair?" she asked. Paul paused then hurried to pull some of his long hair so he could see what colour it was. Sure enough it was blood red. _

"_What the hell?" he yelled, jumping out of bed and hurrying to the bathroom._

"_Ew!" Dawn cried, throwing the duvet over her head and hiding. "Paul butt!"_

_Paul scooped up his trousers from the night before and hurried to put them on as he stumbled to the bathroom. The moment he saw his reflection he swore never to touch another drop of alcohol as long as he lived. Not only was his hair dyed red but he had smudged red lipstick all over his mouth and what looked like eyeliner on his eyes._

_The sound of Dawn falling over in the bedroom made him go to investigate, finding that she was hurriedly putting on her clothes. She gave Paul a sheepish look as she straightened up her cream dress. _

"_Well, I'm not used to this," she said._

"_You and me both," he replied._

"_Mention this to anyone and I will kill y… Wait, what's that?" she pointed over at the chest of drawers on Paul's side of the bed. She climbed over the bed to get a better look. Carefully picking it up and reading it she let out a loud shriek before flinging it across the room at Paul. With it being a piece of paper it didn't get very far but Paul hurried to grab it and see what was on it._

_28th June 2010. Paul Shinji, Bachelor: aged 19, Champion. Dawn Berlitz, Spinster: aged 18, model. Their fathers were listed as was their addresses. Finally the bottom was signed by some of the guys the pair had been working with over the last couple of months alongside the names of the registrars. _

"_This… That's a marriage certificate," Dawn said, pointing at the piece of paper. "Does that mean? Does that mean?"_

_Paul showed her his ring causing her to put her head in her hands. _

"_Well this is just great," she snapped. She looked at his accusingly. "The media will go mad for this, you know. Champion and Model married in drunken haze. I can't even remember the sex, says Dawn. I woke up with red hair, says Paul."_

_Paul sat down on the bed with his back to Dawn just staring at the sheet of paper._

"_They warned me that things were slightly different from the country in the big city," Paul said, "but I don't think this is what they meant."_

"_You're trying to be funny at a time like this?" Dawn snapped._

"_Oh, believe me, the only reason why I'm trying to make this humorous is because any second now I'm going to start freaking out," Paul replied, glancing over his shoulder at her. He stared at her for a few seconds then, for no reason at all, he burst into laughter. "Why the hell did you dye your hair green? You look like a swamp monster."_

"_Hey!" Dawn yelled, launching herself forwards so she could grab Paul's red hair in her hands. "Look at you Count Bloodula."_

"_Shut up, Swamp Monster," Paul snapped in retort._

"_Hello," Dawn mimicked, "I'm Count Bloodula, the campest vampire in all the land. I even make the vampires out of Twilight look straight."_

"OK, you win," Gary chuckled. "Man, how do you put up with him, Dawn?"

"Oh there's nothing to it really," the blunette replied. She tugged Paul's hair on one of her hands sharply causing him to flinch.

"Get off," he snapped, batting her hand away. Dawn giggled and let go like she was told. As much as she loved to demean her husband in public she didn't want to make him a whipping dog for everyone else. Instead she snuggled up to him, feeling the eye roll he was giving her as she did this.

"Looks like you have everything covered," Leaf joked.

"So do any of you have kids?" Dawn asked.

"None here," May and Drew said happily.

"We were trying until Gary fell in love with his latest science project," Leaf said, shooting Gary a dark look. Gary rubbed his head nervously.

"Hey, don't make me the bad guy here," he mumbled.

"We have one," Misty said. Ash fumbled in his trouser pocket eventually pulling out a wallet which he flipped open to show the group a picture of a baby.

"That's Ethan," Ash told them. "This is our first night out since he was born."

"Ash with kids," Drew said to Gary. "Who'd have guessed?"

"The same people who said Paul is married," Gary replied. "If you say you two have kids then I will attempt to wake myself up."

"No," Paul said slowly, glancing at Dawn. Dawn stared back at him, a mischievous smile tugging at her lips. "We don't have any kids or do we? Are you going to announce to everyone, yet again, that you are pregnant like you did when you met my father?"

"That was so funny," Dawn giggled.

"And the Champion of Hoenn?"

"Hilarious."

"My grandmother? Or how about the head of Silph Co.? Or that modelling agency person?" Paul listed.

"The last one I said because I didn't want that job," Dawn said with a nonchalant shrug. Paul eyed her cautiously for a second but when she said nothing he decided she wasn't going to say anything else on the subject.

"You two sure live a colourful life," Gary mused. "I hear the next rounds of the Championship are coming up soon. How do you think you'll do?"

"There are some impressive trainers coming through," Paul replied. "But I've been training night and day for this sort of thing for the past three months."

"You've been champion for three years now?" Leaf asked. Paul nodded. "Wow that's quite a while. I heard that the average time for a Champion is two years at a time. You're doing rather well."

"That's our Paul," Drew said proudly. "He's always been that way. He goes for the top and aims to stay there."

"Well I don't like it," Dawn said as she folded her arms. "Do you realise how much work the Champion has to do? I would love for Paul to have a year off just so we could relax and stuff."

"I thought the Champion had a rather easy life," May said but Misty's violent shaking of her head made May stop talking. Misty raised a finger, leaning on the table in front of her.

"It's like being a Gym Leader," Misty said. "You have to run a gym, run publicity, train like mad, help the city police force in times of crisis, keep track of your trainers and any others in the area, help Nurse Joy and maintain links with all the key figures in your city."

"On top of your family life," Ash added.

"I have to run the League, check on gyms, check on local law enforcement, help people who ask for it, deal with many professors who I hardly understand at times, make sure the Elite Four aren't mucking about, check with INTERPOL, oversee competitions of all kinds from contests to the League matches, certify new gym leaders and gyms and run my own publicity and lifestyle," Paul listed. "I run Platinum Co. as well."

"Dude when do you sleep?" Gary asked.

"Ever wondered why he's so grumpy?" Dawn giggled, poking Paul childishly in the cheek. "To be fair, I'm usually the one running Platinum Co. and I tend to keep an eye on the Elite Four for him."

"Nice to see you're on your toes," Ash said. "I thought Misty and I were busy."

"Don't you think it's nice to have someone to help you?" Misty asked Paul, smiling warmly at him. Paul nodded a few times causing Dawn to giggle for no reason at all.

"Despite how busy I am," Paul said, "it's still the best job in the world."

"Better than mine!" Dawn cheered. Everyone at the table turned to stare at Dawn like she was some sort of alien. Really, the life of a model couldn't be so bad could it? Feeling their confusion Dawn decided to elaborate a little. "The photography isn't so bad but the constant dieting, the stupid photographers and the horrible colleagues does wear you down. So many people have stabbed me in the back since I became a model, it's rather sad really to think he" – she pointed to Paul using her thumb – "is the closest friend I have."

"We'll be your friends, Dawn!" Leaf and May cheered happily. Dawn laughed at them but felt grateful all the same.

_Paul opened his eyes slowly as he heard someone shuffling around in his apartment. Slowly he climbed out of bed and walked towards the bedroom door. He opened the door carefully and stalked down the short corridor to the living room where the noise was coming from. _

_Dawn gave a shriek as she spotted Paul stood poised to attack her wearing nothing but his boxers. Instantly he relaxed and rubbed his head._

"_What are you dong here?" he asked her._

"_Sorry," she replied. "I got… bored."_

"_And so you broke in to my apartment at"- he glanced at the clock on the wall – "six am on a Sunday?"_

"_Yeah… well…" Dawn stuttered. She flushed pink slightly. "I missed you. Sort of."_

"_Well that is a first," Paul commented clearly amused by this bit of news. Dawn merely shot him a dead eye, warning him to not to annoy her too much. He was about to say something else when he realised she was holding a spatula and a plastic mixing bowl in one hand. "You were cooking?"_

"_I was going to make you breakfast in bed," Dawn replied. She flicked her hair over her shoulders and looked down into the bowl. "Perhaps I could poison you."_

"_With your cooking, it would be no different to normal," Paul said. He walked towards her, taking the bowl from her hands and putting it on the kitchen side. She scoffed at him as he brushed past her. "How did you get in here anyway?"_

"_Oh, I told the doorman I was your assistant and had lost your key," Dawn said as if it was nothing. "And when he didn't believe me I went all cute on him."_

"_Cute? You?" _

"_Oh, haha."_

_Paul smirked as he put his hand on the bag of flour. A plume of powder shot out of the sides and slowly settled on the wooden surface of the kitchen side. Paul watched the flour settle, scowling at the mess. He picked up the bag of flour and walked to the cupboard to put it away. When he returned to wipe the side he found there was a message written in the mess he was about to clear away._

'_Jerk'. That's all what was written. He turned to glare at Dawn but found she had disappeared. He paused for a few seconds then went to find her. He stumbled over her legs as he walked into the living room. Before he could shoot her a sarcastic comment and a glare he realised that she had her head in her hands. He dropped to his knees beside her, placing a hand on her shoulder._

"_You OK?" he asked. She shook her head. "What's wrong?"_

"_Nothing," she replied. She slowly took her hands away from her face showing Paul large tear filled eyes. _

"_Really?" he asked. "Your eyes tell me something is up."_

"_How come the person I have the most to do with is the same person I can't stand," Dawn said. She sniffed loudly._

"_Your mother?" Paul asked. She shook her head. "Oh, Kenny?"_

"_Yeah," Dawn said. She poked Paul in the chest. "I can deal with you no problem. You're a jerk and you know it. You prefer people to stand up to you and I enjoy standing up to you. But Kenny… I have no idea how to deal with him."_

"_Get a large stick and hit him repeatedly until you feel better?" Paul suggested._

"_I'm pretty sure I'd get arrested for that," Dawn giggled, "but I like the idea."_

_She rubbed her eyes then leant into Paul's chest._

"_How is it you always know what to say?" she asked._

"_What can I say?" Paul said airily. "A man knows how to comfort his wife."_

"_Yeah, right," Dawn said._

Paul was dozing in the back seat of the car as they drove home. At times like these he didn't mind being chauffeured around because it meant he could rest a little. Dawn was sat beside him, his arm round her waist like normal, but instead of snuggling up to him she was busy typing something on her phone.

"Right, I've booked the restaurant for Misty, Ash and us for next week," Dawn said happily. "It's nice to know I'll actually have someone to talk to at the Gym Leader convention for a change."

"Hmm," Paul replied too sleepy to speak to her.

"Then I'm going to arrange a shopping trip with Leaf and May next month when I have a week off. You don't mind me going to Hoenn for a few days do you?" Dawn asked.

"I'll come with," Paul mumbled, "I've got some stuff to do in Hoenn."

"Then on the third of June its Ethan's birthday so we're going to Cerulean to his party," Dawn went on. When Paul didn't reply to her, Dawn glanced at him finding that he had fallen completely asleep. With a smile on her face she leant forwards and pecked him on the forehead.

"You're such a handful," she muttered, "but who knows what I'd be without you."

"_Hey Paul," Gary said to the fourteen year old purple haired boy. Paul turned to meet Gary's smiling face with a frown. _

"_What?" Paul asked. _

"_Man you're grumpy," Gary moaned. Beside him Ash and Drew laughed loudly. _

"_It's Paul," Ash said. "If he was nice then he wouldn't be Paul at all."_

"_It's true and you know it," Drew added._

"_I suppose so," Gary agreed. He turned to look out over the grassy field where they were stood leaning on a stone wall. The wind rippled through their hair lightly, not blowing enough to move it much to Drew's relief. "How long have we known each other?"_

"_A few years?" Ash guessed._

"_Is that all?" Paul asked. "It feels like an eternity."_

_This caused Ash and Drew to laugh once again while Gary shot Paul an amateur glare. Paul smirked at him, ignoring the meanness of the glare._

"_Can't you be nice this once?" Gary snapped._

"_Why do you ask?" Drew asked._

"_Well, it's stupid really but as the time comes closer for us to go on our journeys, I wonder if we'll still be friends way out in the future," Gary said. "I know it's a girly sort of thing to think but… What happens when we're married and have children? Will we still be friends then?"_

_Drew and Ash fell silent, both of them looking worriedly at each other. Paul clicked his tongue in an annoyed fashion, throwing his head back as if he was bored. _

"_What?" Gary asked. _

"_You sound like a girl," Paul told him._

"_I know that," Gary grumbled._

"_There's nothing to worry about, you know," Paul went on. "We could be away from each other for years but as soon as we see each other it will feel like it was only yesterday when we last spoke. We'd catch up and your wives will probably arrange for us to meet up in a few weeks, then we'll see each other periodically. Each and every time it will feel as though we've never changed."_

"_That's almost sweet, Paul," Gary said. _

"_Yeah, well don't mention it to anyone," Paul replied. "Ever."_

_With a poignant glare, Paul stared at his friends for a second then shook his head. _

"_You three are a bunch of girls," he said._

Paul jerked awake as Dawn poked him.

"What's going on?" he asked groggily. His eyes wandered to the clock on the bed side table where the digital clock showed the time twenty three minutes past four. "This better be good."

"Paul," Dawn said seriously. "How long have we been together?"

"An eternity," Paul replied grumpily as he tried to get himself comfy between the duvet again.

"I'm serious," Dawn moaned. "I mean we're a good couple but I don't want us to fizzle out. I think we need to do more for our relationship so we keep like Drew and May; Leaf and Gary; and Ash and Misty."

"They're idiots," Paul mumbled.

"Oh come on," Dawn snapped. "I can't sleep."

"Fine," Paul said. He turned over so he could look his wife in the eye, one of his eyebrows raised. "I think you're being stupid. We're fine, we always will be. You think we'll fizzle out? I don't. It still feels like I married you yesterday, that's how fresh our relationship feels. Now go to sleep."

He settled down into the pillow once again, closing his eyes while his wife continued to sit upright staring down at him.

"I want a baby," she announced.

"Not tonight, dear," Paul mumbled into his pillow. "I've got a headache."

"Jerk."

"Ah, but you love it," he replied, a smirk crawling onto his face.


End file.
